College or Cribs

Chapter 8
Day After

Chapter Description: Chris wakes up in his own bedroom, and being treated his proper age. Looks like it was all a dream after all. Wasn't it?

College or Cribs: Chapter 8- Day After.

Christopher Cole IV woke blearily as sunlight streamed through his windows. His eyes didn’t flutter as much as they creaked open, like an old door that didn’t have enough oil on the hinges. He rubbed the sand and gunk out of his eyes and stretched like a full body stretch before taking stock of the room.

There he was, in his room, not the nursery, in all of its bland college student moved in just for the summer glory. So it had all been just a dream. Chris sighed to himself. It had been a bizarre and at some points nightmarish yet oddly wonderful dream, but it was just a dream.

Chris allowed himself a rueful half-smirk as he tossed the covers off. His bladder was full and he really had to pee. He went to the bathroom attached to his room, and relieved himself accordingly. He opened the front of his pajama pants, just in case, and verified that yes, his body did have the correct amount and density of hair. A look in the mirror and at his arms, confirmed this, and he even had the makings of a patchy beard growing in. Not bad for one night’s growth.

Something struck him as odd though as he groggily tromped down the stairs to go to the kitchen of his Dad’s and Roxanne’s house. He could have sworn he had gone to bed naked. Yet here he now was, in the kitchen pouring himself a bowl of cereal, wearing a plain t-shirt and pajama bottoms; perfectly presentable for family and close friends first thing in the morning.

“Hiiiii,” his sisters lazily called out to him from the living room, as he rummaged around the silverware drawer for a spoon.

“Morning,” Chris called back as he walked over to join them. Sammy and Brianna were sharing a love seat in the family room. Sammy, unsurprisingly was reading a book, something more about talking cats. Brianna was doodling on a sketch pad, copying pictures out of the how-to-draw art book she had gotten from the library yesterday. Chris’s subconscious was buzzing at that thought, but Chris pushed it aside.

If Bri were on the couch- drawing and not monopolizing the television for all it was worth- that could only mean a stronger more monopolizing person was in the room. Chris glanced at the TV, saw that it was tuned to ESPN, and groggily shuffled to behind the big easy-chair that no one else touched.

“Morning dad,” Chris called out to Dr. Cole.

“Good afternoon,” his dad said lackadaisically. Chris glanced behind him at the clock on the wall. It was indeed, 12:30 in the afternoon. Chris moved out from behind his dad’s easy chair and took a seat on the couch, bowl of cereal in his lap, crunching greedily.

“How was your date?”, Dr. Cole inquired.

“Haven’t gone on it yet,” Chris answered between bites.

“Oh?” Dr. Cole cocked an eyebrow in question.

“Yeah, had to push it back”, Chris said, his eyes more focused on the latest talking head sports caster. “Family stuff, quality time with them.”

“I thought she would have gotten all of that out of the way the day before,” Dad said, also making more eye contact with the people on the television than with Chris. This wasn’t an interrogation after all, just idle chit-chat; father to son, man to man.

“Me too,” Chris started sipping the milk out of his cereal bowl. He closed his eyes and let the creamy milk slide down his throat. “It was kinda my fault, for not knowing anyway. I didn’t charge my phone up enough.” Chris got an annoyed grunt from his father for that one. Dr. Christopher Cole III M.D. was not one to repeat himself, so when he wanted to nag you about something he’s nagged at before, he just made his annoyance known with a grunt.

That was all it took for the man to unnerve you. He was like a god in that way in that he only needed to make his displeasure known. He was charismatic despite his typically withdrawn demeanor and soft spoken nature. You just WANTED to impress him.

“So,” Chris asked, trying to change the subject, “did your date with Roxanne go well at least?” This made Dr. Cole sit up, slowly, and turn his head, slowly, and regard his son.

“What are you talking about, Chris?” his father said, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed in questioning and suspicion. “I was at work all last night. Roxanne was here with the girls, babysitting them.” Sammy’s head popped out of from behind her book and she opened her mouth to protest. Dr. Cole didn’t even have to turn his head around for Sammy to think better of protesting and closing it.

Chris shook his head quickly to clear the cobwebs out. “Sorry, I knew that. I think I just had a really strange dream last night,” Chris explained. Dr. Cole regarded him. “Like, you know when you dream you’re having a fight with someone and you wake up angry at them and it takes a few minutes for you to remember the whole fight was a dream? I think I dreamt you two went out on a date.”

Chris’s father leaned back in his easy chair, relaxing. “Now, if I had known that your date had been canceled,” Chris’s dad remarked taking on a slightly accusatory tone, “I could have likely gotten someone to take my shift down at the hospital, and left you here with the girls-just in case-” he added before Sammy could react, “then yes, I COULD have gone on a date with Roxanne. But that’s not how things played out last night.” Chris shrunk down.

Dr. Cole then just shrugged. “But, oh well. It was your night out after all, even if it wasn’t your night out with Sherry. Can’t blame you for taking it.” Dr. Cole smiled softly, and returned his full attention to the T.V. screen. That was that, it seemed.

Chris got up, very calmly put his dish in the sink for Roxanne to wash later, and then hurried up the stairs to his room. Something was wrong here, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He closed the door softly behind him, sat down at his computer desk and then logged on to g-chat. Sherry was there, but her icon bubble was “yellow” which could mean anything from “I’m away from my computer, but you can leave a message,” to “if I don’t feel like talking to you in particular, I’m going to pretend to be away from my computer.”

He messaged her.

Colev4.0: You there?

SunnySher: Yup!

SunnySher: Good morning!

Colev4.0: Morning

Colev4.0: How are you?

SunnySher: Good. You?

Colev4.0: Good.

Colev4.0: Still pickin’ you up at 6:00?

SunnySher: What?

Colev4.0: Our date.

SunnySher: Sorry. Can’t tonight.

SunnySher: Mom and dad want to spend some more quality time. This time, little bro is tagging along. I hope I was never that annoying when I was an 8th grader.

Colev4.0: Oh.

SunnySher: Last night was really great, though. Thanks for the good time. 

Chris sat back from his computer screen. He had had a date for tonight, not yesterday. Yesterday, she had used the family stuff to get out of a date. Was this some passive aggressive way to break up with him; Refuse dates till he gave up? But if that was the case, why was she saying thank you.

Colev4.0: …..What’d I do?

SunnySher: Nothing too outrageous or special. You were just really cuddly last night while we were watching that movie. Normally, I’m the one who has to cuddle up to you, so it was a nice change of pace.

Colev4.0: Huh?

SunnySher: You don’t remember, do you?

Colev4.0: ::shakes head::

SunnySher: That’s alright. You looked really sleepy. I think you might’ve even fallen asleep during the movie. Glad you made it home ok.

Colev4.0: Yeah. Me too.

SunnySher: See you first thing tomorrow?

Colev4.0: Sure

SunnySher: Promise?

Colev4.0: Promise.

SunnySher: Think Roxanne will let me surprise you and get you out of bed?

Colev4.0: Is it really a surprise if you’re asking me?

SunnySher: You know what I mean.

Colev4.0: Yeah. Roxanne likes you and trusts me. As long as the door is closed after you barge in and we’re not caught doing anything….we wouldn’t want to get caught doing, I don’t think she’ll care if you come and tear the covers off my bed. See me in my undies. ;)

SunnySher: Tighty Whitiys or boxers?

Colev4.0: Which do you prefer?

SunnySher: Tighty Whiteys.

Colev4.0: Done. Love ya!

SunnySher: Love ya too!

Chris pushed himself back from his computer, content and already fantasizing about what tomorrow morning might be like. A whole day with Sherry, starting from being woken up in bed. He’d have to stay up extra late tonight, so that he’d sleep so deeply that Sherry would surprise him. Oh that would be hot.

But that didn’t solve Chris’s initial problem. He wasn’t supposed to see Sherry tomorrow, he was SUPPOSED to see Sherry today. Tonight, in fact. A 6:00 pm sharp. The only time he had seen Sherry so far was in his dream. His ridiculous, fetish laden wet dream in which he had gone to bed naked, woke up in a diaper, spent the whole day being treated as an infant, been put to bed an infant and then woke…

Up….

In…

Pajamas.

He went to bed naked, then woke up in pajamas.

Chris immediately checked the date online. Part of him wished he hadn’t. He had skipped a day. He had skipped a whole day sleeping, or rather, he had spent a whole day in a dream in which everyone else had thought he was awake. Or rather rather, he had dreamt spending a day as a baby, but everyone else remembered it as any other day. Or rather rather rather, he had gone to sleep naked, woken up in a fantasy world where he was treated as a baby, gone to sleep in said fantasy world, woken up in reality where no one remembered the fantasy coming true except for him, and instead remembered yesterday as a mundane everyday kind of day where he would do what the adult version of him would have done anyways. Chris then promptly went cross eyed from over-analysis.

There had to be a mistake. There just had to be. But Chris checked every news site he could find. It was in fact two days from the time where Chris had gone to sleep in his room, woken up in a giant baby’s room the next day, gone to sleep and woken up back in his own room.

Now what?